I might die 6/22/11

Up at 6 to have breakfast by 630. We had pancakes, toast, and tea/coffee. I ate as much as possible since Antonio said we wouldn’t hit the lunch spot until 3. How was I going to hike 8 hours without eating? I guess the cookie snack pack was supposed to tie me over. The Atlanta couple started with the coca leaves to help with their altitude sickness. I’ve had coca tea before which didn’t affect me more than tea normally does. She was chewing them to get the full effect. Eager to see what these coca leaves were all about, I put some dry coca leaves in my mouth. Bitter, nasty, damn these things better do something for how bad they tasted. They told me to chew 8-10 so I put one by one in my cheek, trying to chew and having all the moisture in my mouth disappear. Others felt tingling in their mouths, so I chewed until I felt something like a tingle. Breakfast was done and we were off on the big second day.

One we immediately left the campsite we started hiking straight uphill. It was cold out so I had a jacket on but I knew I’d but taking it off pretty quickly. Slow and steady was the plan. Antonio started leading the pack until he handed it over to Andy so Antonio could stay in the back with the Atlanta couple. Andy took off so I was back with the gals from Portland. We chatted when we weren’t breathing heavily. Yesterday and the first part of the hike we were walking on a dirt path. Then the dirt turned into stones. It’s not easy to walk on stones so we’d walk on the dirt on the side of the path when possible.

Antonio gave us the option of stopping at one of the rest areas to use the bathroom. The gals stopped but I didn’t because I knew I would freeze and my legs would stop working. I don’t know if the coca leaves helped or I was just feeling good hiking in the beautiful Sacred Valley, but I kept on the path in Andy’s footsteps (although I couldn’t see him). I could see the sun coming over the mountains which gave me more motivation to reach warmth. It’s amazing the temperature difference in the shade vs sun at this altitude.

Then I saw the stairs to the summit called Dead Woman’s Pass at 4200m (not because someone died but the shape from afar resembled a woman lying face up) or as the locals call it Warmiwanusca. They were no joke. A few were small stone steps, many were a foot or more high. My strategy was to lean far forward which put more of my backpack weight forward instead of behind me. This helped and I was able to move faster. Moving fast wasn’t the answer because I would take 10 steps and I’d have to catch my breath. I passed porters who were sitting on the side of the path chewing more coca leaves. I wish I had some of my own at this point, anything to help. I kept on and saw Andy chillin at the summit, no doubt he had been there for 30 min or so. I hit a wall, apparently the same wall the gals hit later. Every 10 steps I would stop to catch my breath. I felt like I wasn’t making any progress, very odd feeling. I finally made it to the summit, using my arms to push off my legs. Andy was filming and telling me to touch the summit marker. I did it! Out of breath and needing to lie down, but I did it! We sat and enjoyed the view waiting for the others to arrive. Antonio said not to eat our snacks above a certain altitude because it was hard to digest food, but I didn’t care, I needed some fuel. It only took me 3.5 hours to reach the summit- not bad vs the 5.5 Antonio told us.

After resting for a bit, it was time to start the downward journey. The sun was now behind clouds which made it cold. We had purchased walking sticks in Cuzco so I busted them out for the hike down the mountain, boy am I glad I had those. Andy didn’t need them because he was running down the mountain like the porters. I took my time since each step was over a foot high. Those hiking sticks were a lifesaver. Since Andy wasn’t using his he let the gals use them and they were very grateful. It was so nice finally walking downhill, although it was very hard on the quads. I was able to enjoy the scenery, not always looking at what was up the hill in front of me. We made it to our lunch destination and I was starving. Good thing they always have tons of food for us- including apps and Koolaid for lunch. We kicked ass so much we reached the lunch spot by 12 instead of 3 which Antonio predicted.

After an hour rest we were off again. We continued downhill, enjoying the views as we went. Again Andy was off again and I hung back with the gals. We reached out camp spot in record time again so we had plenty of time to rest and relax in our tents. This campground was on the side of the mountain by a stream. When I got there Andy was already dipping his feet in the freezing water. I did the same. It felt good then my calves started cramping. Enough of the sun, time for some rest before dinner after I got an awesome calf massage from Andy. After a short snooze we had more popcorn and cookies with tea, then dinner. Tonight we met the porters. This meant everyone went around and introduced themselves in Castellano if possible. The couple from Atlanta went first talking about the kids they didn’t have together. Andy and I both announced we have no kids then it was Leslie’s turn. For whatever reason, maybe because it was the question of the week, but Antonio asked Leslie if she was single. She paused and then answered yes, no thinking our new tour group from Peru would be able to handle that she and Kristin have been together for 10 years. Best to be safe at this point I suppose. From that point on I teased her about being “single”. Everyone was exhausted from the hard day’s work so we called it a night around 8. Today was hard but tomorrow is the long day.